Guest UnfortuNATE

Chapter 3: Unread Messages

"Today is unusually cold."
Diamond grumbled as she awakens to wrap herself with her blanket, noting the atmosphere in the room rather chilly.
"Maybe it was because of the heavy rain last night," she murmured groggily, brushing it off her mind.
She looked out the window and the sky promised no foul weather that day. The sun starting to peek among the trees, shining its rays through their window. She then caught sight of Ace's phone in the windowsill.
"What the heck is it doing over there? Ace always put her phone by the bedside table." She remembered her friend putting it there last night when she bade them goodnight. She gets up to grab the phone, still wondering how it ended up in there.

She looked back at her three bestfriends, still sound asleep. She can't help but chuckle at Ace's pitiful position snuggled between Heart, who is clutching on to her like a baby, legs thrown over her and there's Spade who is using Ace's arm as a pillow, hand gripping the other wrist.
"I wonder how she still manages to sleep so soundly with those two acting as if she would be taken away from them while they sleep," Diamond shakes her head fondly. "Well, can't blame them. I might have been worse."
Looking at her friends, her heart seems to burst in sheer love and happiness for what they have now.

They had been friends since high school, Ace and Heart going way back as childhood friends cause they were also cousins.
They had always been together. So inseparable that people barely saw one without the other. A yin and a yang. Complete opposites that complement one another. Perfect together.
Heart was a cute size while Ace was the tallest among them. She's the bubbly and energetic kid while the other was the calm in the storm. She was the friendly, approachable type who smiles at everybody while Ace would be in the corner, arms crossed and just scrutinizing everybody with her cold and sharp gaze. She was so cold and withdrawn, dark and intimidating aura oozing off her.
By high school, Diamond attended the same school where she became Hearts's seatmate while Ace was put in another section. Heart had a hard time adjusting at first now that she had been separated from her bestfriend and Diamond, with nobody else she knew of, was there to help her. They became close friends when they discovered that they both share the same passion and energy, matching each other's freaks.
Ace was surprisingly not angry about it, as the other students warned, but rather accepting of her. They didn't talk much but Ace made her comfortable with her presence and her coldness gradually wear off as they started to hang out more often as a trio.
She came to know her as someone dependable, the kind who Heart admitted that she cannot live without and later on came to realize herself.
Ace seems to be well-acquainted with life, being independent from a young age and quite skillful in handling herself and those around her, she never had trouble with anybody as nobody even wanted to get at her bad side as they knew how scary she could be when she gets angry.
She got to witness it firsthand when a transfer student they came to know as Spade got bullied by a gang of popular girls in their 10th grade. She was poorly dressed, had no friends and was called a nerd as she was also quite intelligent.
She crossed one of the girls she remembered as Rosa when she refused to do her assignment and called her out for being just a beauty but no brain in front of their classmates. She was then mercilessly dragged at the girls' restroom where she was beaten badly.
That's when Ace came to her rescue, with Diamond and Heart following hot on her heels. Without a word, she gripped the bully's hair and dragged her out in the open where all the other students came to watch, Rosa's screams and cursing attracting a curious bunch.
"I'll fucking get you expelled! You think I'm afraid of you?" She threatens Ace who was just looking down at her incredulously, an eyebrow raised.
"Who's afraid of who? You think you got the power here just because your father is the principal?" Ace scoffed.
"Who do you think you are?! Acting all mighty and mysterious, huh? You are nothing but a piece of shit! That's who you are! A piece of garbage!" Rosa is now seething with anger as she tries to tackle Ace to the ground but the latter held her down with her right foot, displaying a bored expression.
"You done? Any more last words?"
Rosa winced in pain as she started trashing around. She yelled at her other friends for help. "What the fuck are you three doing over there? Don't just fucking stand there and get her off me, now!"
They hesitated a little before lunging altogether at Ace. They struggled a bit but ended up with their faces on the floor, just beside Rosa.
"Useless bitches!" Rosa screamed.
Ace sneered with a sickening smile.
"They'll be your karma. They"ll do the work for me," she whispered in her ears with satisfaction and before anyone could blink, all four of them lost consciousness.
Days later, words started to circulate about Rosa's issues that tarnished her reputation so badly she doesn't have a face to show to anyone anymore. Videos of her badmouthing their teachers, proofs of her cheating, bullying other students, even scandals with sex tapes and drug use spread around the campus. It was speculated that her so-called friends were the ones who leaked the videos and proofs as she was seen not hanging around with them anymore after the fight.
They don't know what happened after that but she just disappeared along with her father's resignation as the school principal.
No bullying incident ever happened after that, they took what happened to Rosa as a warning and those who used to be bullies suddenly decided they had better things to do than picking on other students.
Spade started hanging out with the trio after that. She became the president of their Supreme Government, Diamond served as the vice-president and Heart as the secretary. Ace decided to just lead from the shadows.
Their friendship grew stronger with the passing of the years and she was so happy at where they at now, living in a mansion they designed and built themselves. Spade as the architect, Heart as the engineer, Diamond as the interior decorator and Ace as the overseer, managing it over all.
After a couple of years, their dream house was finally completed. Their safe haven.
She sighed contentedly as she was done reminiscing, she still couldn't believe they had finally moved in a month ago.

She was snapped back to the present when Ace's phone suddenly vibrated in her hand indicating a text message.
She was surprised to see a blank message from Nate. She then pressed it, directing her to the inbox where she found 4 other unread messages from Nate.
"Hey, girls. I'm here." 30 minutes after they had all gone to bed.
"Let me in? I'm dripping wet and it's so cold out here." An hour later.
"Oh, sleeping cozy, I see. While I'm out here in the dark, cold and wet." 0000H
"Thanks for the warm welcome, girls. You could've done better for a guest." 0300H
She was somewhat disturbed by the messages. She quicky looked out the window, scanning their surrounding. Suddenly, Ace's phone vibrated with a new message.
"Looking for me? But, why just now? You're a little bit late, don't you think?"
She stood frozen as she read again what Nate had just sent her. Regaining her composure, she texted back asking where he is as she looked out their window and scanning their surroundings.
But the reply she received a minute later was something she wasn't prepared for.
"I'm not out there, honey. Check your closet."
Just then, she heard their closet door creak open and that's when she let out a scream that sent her friends flying off the bed.
"What happened?" Instead of an answer, she let out a cry as she shuddered in fright. Her friends then quickly gathered round and embraced her.
"Shhh honey, it's okay. We're here."
Amidst uncontrollable sobbing, Diamond told them what happened, scaring the shit out of Heart and Spade.
Ace was bold enough to walk towards their closet as the others watched nervously. She hesitantly opened it wider but finding nothing unusual in there, much to the relief of her friends.
"Fuck you, Nate. Is he trying to play a prank on us?" Spade angrily muttered.
Heart proceeded to apologize and just explain to which Spade scoffed, "As if he can hear you."
Ace turned to look at them with an unreadable expression on her face, "He is. He's watching us right now."